Mhue is a very young-looking 38 year old Buddhist monk from Saigon. He has been resident in McLeod Ganj for 2 years, studying meditation. He is interested in all forms of meditation and Zen – quite unusual for South East Asian Buddhists.
Mhue´s father was killed in the Vietnam war and his elderly mother lost an eye in an American assault in her village. Like almost all Vietnamese, he holds no hostility whatsoever to the US.
I ask him about the differences between the large and small wheel schools of Buddhism. He says he really doesn´t discriminate between the two - it´s just Buddhism.
He invited me round for a dinner of rice, boiled okra and lettuce tofu, spicy sauce and green tea. It´s a really pleasant and mellow evening.
Mhue loves McLeod Ganj and his eyes sparkle as he points out his mountain view from his veranda. He is hoping he will be able to stay for another three years minimum, paid for by his monastery in Vietnam. He pays about a third of my rent, but is somewhat smaller and Spartan. He has a VAIO laptop, a bookshelf packed with Buddhist texts both in Vietnamese and English, and nothing else.
He gives me an open invitation for breakfast and meditation at 5am – i invariably sleep in till 9.30am, but i´ll certainly bear it in mind.
I´ll invite him over soon, although unfortunately he doesn´t drink coffee. Maybe i´ll be able to enlighten him?
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